Decorative chain structure



March 16, 1948. A. BLUMSTEIN 2,437,932v

DECORATIVE CHAIN STRUCTURE Filed Maron 29, 1945 2 sheets-sheet 1 z* nINVENTOR.

BY @ym A. BLUMSTEN DECORATIVE CHAIN STRUCTURE Filed March 29, 1945 2Sheets-Sheet .2`

m. w m m Patented Mar. i6, 1948 nien iiED STATES @ATENE I QFFICE 7Claims. (Cl. 59-80) This invention generally relates to chain structuresadapted for use in articles of jewelry such as bracelets, wrist watchbands and the like and more speciicaiy to a novel structure of thecharacter aforementioned embodying indicia for decorative purposes orthe like.

This application is a continuation in part of my coicending applicationS. N. 560,883 filed October 28, i944, which has become abandoned.

The general object of the invention is to provide a construction wherebya variety of indicia such as letters forming initials or names orindividuals, decorative signs or a combination thereci be readilyprovided in flexible chain bracelets or the like, without undulyincreasing the cost of manufacture of the product.

Another object oi the invention is to provide elements forming indiciaas aforesaid adapted to be incorporated in a flexible chain structure inthe process of assembly of this latter, in a simple and expeditiousmanner. A further object is to provide a flexible chain structurecomprising hollow members, indicia forming elements adapted forassociation with said hollow members and lint; units adapted tointerconnect said hollow members and concurrently lock the indiciaforming elements in fixed position relative to the hollow members,without necessity of directly securing the indicia to these latter.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel clasp forthe ends of a chain of the character described.

These and other related objects will become apparent in the followingdescription of' the invention illustrated in the drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a plan view of a wrist watch band embodying indicia accordingto the invention.

1Eig. 2 is an enlarged bottom plan View of the portion of the structureof Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section on line -d of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an exploded view illustrating in perspective and in a muchgreater scale the various constituent elements of the structure.

Fig. 6 is a similar view illustrating the structure of the clasp.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows, by way ofexample, a wrist watch band embodying indicia according to theinvention, which is generally indicated at li) and is formed of lengthsof chain or band Sections Il, l2 interconnected by a clasp I3, theconstruction whereof will be hereafter described. Each of said sectionscomprises a series of elongated open' ended hollow members lli, which,in the embodiment illustrated, are shown as hollow rectangularparallelepipeds, arranged side by side and interconnected to form aflexible structure by means of composite link units to be described.

superimposed upon the hollow members M;

are indicia forming elements IS, consisting of a substantially flat bodyportion il which is bent at its opposite ends at right angles to provideportions IB extending in juxtaposition to the ends of the hollow membersand apertured as at I9, for the purpose which will become hereafterapparent (see particularly Figs, 4 and 5). The flatbody portion ll maybe cut to define any desired letter or sign, as exemplified by theelements shown in Fig. 5, or otherwise shaped for ornamental purposes.

Two series of elements 28 and 2i, which form the aforementioned linkunits, are arranged along the opposite ends of the hollow members I4 inoifset relation thereto, and oppositely vextend into pairs of contiguousmembers, through the apertures I9 formed in the portions I8 of theindicia elements, for interlocking engagement within the members.

Each of said elements 2t comprises a head 22 and two parallel prongs 23,preferably made integral with the head and of rectangular cross-section,which project from the head in parallel spaced relation to one another.In the embodiment illustrated, the ends of said prongs are out to definetherein identically disposed hookshaped portion 2i and the prongs form asubstantially resilient structure due to their small cross-sectionaldimension.

Each of the elements 2l likewise comprises a head 26 and a pair ofspaced prongs 21 generally identical in shape and dimension to thecorresponding portions of the element 20, except that the ends of theprongs 2l are cut to define therein hook-shaped portions 28 oppositelydisposed relative to the hook-shaped portions 24 of the prongs ofelements 20 and complemental thereto.

23 `and 2l may be modied by forming oppositely disposed hook-shapedportions in each pair of prongs as disclosed in my aforementionedcopending application and the conformation of the prong ends may beotherwise changed, provided complemental interlockable surfaces aredefined in the opposed elements 2B and 2 l.

As clearly shown in Fig. 3, the dimension of the cavities 29 of thehollow members I4 is such Of course, the described arrangement ofhook-shaped portions at the ends of the prongs that two juxtaposedprongs of adjacent elements 20 or 2| may be received in one of saidcavities and a clearance provided between the prongs and the inclosingwalls of the member I4, and the distance between the parallel prongs ofeach element 20 or 2| is somewhat greater than the thickness of thejuxtaposed walls 30 of the contiguous members I4 so that a relativedisplacement of the associated parts is permitted.

In order to assemble a length of chain, the indicia elements I6 areplaced onto the hollow members I4 (in the position hereinbeforedescribed and shown in Fig. 4) and the prongs 23 and 2l of the elements2D and 2| are inserted through the apertures of the indicia elements I8into the cavities of contiguous members I4 from the opposite endsthereof, to enclose the juxtaposed lateral Walls of said members (seeFigs, 2 and 5); the elements may then be moved toward one another toforce their prongs into the position shown in Fig, 2 wherein thecomplemental surfaces of their respective hook-shaped portions 24 and 28are interlocked. As will be apparent, a plurality of link units areformed in this manner, which interconnect successive pairs of contiguousmembers I4 and concurrently maintain the indicia elements I6 in fixedposition relative to said members.

The inherent resiliency of the prongs obviously will permit sufficientrelative displacement of the ends of the prongs 23 and 21 respectivelyto allow the hook-shaped portions of the former to pass over thehook-shaped portions of the latter and will then cause the prongs tospring back to their normal position, thereby securely interlocking thesame,

The length of the prongs is such that, when the same are interlocked,the inner flat surfaces 3| and 32 of the heads 22 and 26 of the elements20 and 2 I. will abut against the outer face of the portions I8 of theindicia elements and maintain said portions in contact with the opposedends of the contiguous members I4 thereby preventing axial displacementof the members relative to each other, and insuring straight formationof the chain structure. The indicia elements are concurrently locked tothe members I4 and function as an integral part thereof, and no directconnection of the indicia elements with the members is required. Ofcourse, those of the members I4, if any; that do not carry an elementI6, will be of somewhat greater length, to compensate for the absence ofthe portions I8 of the element I6 and permit the heads 22 and 26 to abutdirectly against the ends of the member.

Clearly, the structure described possesses a considerable degree ofexibility. Since the prongs inserted intothe cavities of the members I4do not occupy all the space within such cavities, but a substantialclearance is provided between the prongs andthe surrounding walls of themembers, it is apparent that the members may be caused to assumedifferent relative angular positions with the resulting bending of thechain.

To vinterconnect the opposed ends of the chain sections II, I provide anovel clasp. This clasp comprises a member 34, suitably secured, as bywelding, to the end member I 4 of one of the chain sections, having atone end thereof a pair of upstanding lugs 35, and provided at its otherend with a slotted portion 36 terminating in the upstanding lockelements 3l. A iiat member 38 has an end portion 39 pivotallyconnectible to said 4 lugs 35 and is slotted at its free end, as shownat 40.

The inherent resiliency of the portion 36 of the member 34 permitssuicient displacement of the elements 3l toward one another to allow ofthe passage thereof through the slot 40 of the member 38 and thereafterexpansion of the elements into locking engagement with the edges of theslot. Since the chain members I4 are displaceable relative to oneanother to a certain extent, as described, it is evident that theupstanding elements 31 may be inserted between two adjacent members I4,to locate the end of one of the chain sections between the members 34and 38 of the clasp and to lock the same therein, the height of theelements 31 being of course such as to permit the elements to projectupwardly from the members I4 for interlocking engagement with the claspmember 38 in the manner described,

It will be understood that changes and modications may be made in thestructures described and illustrated in the drawings, without departingfrom the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a chain structure, in combination with a series of hollow membersarranged side by side, a number of indicia elements each associated withone of said hollow members and having portions extending injuxtaposition to the ends of the member, and a number of link units forinterconnecting said hollow members and securing the associated indiciaelements thereto, each of said link units extending through a pair ofcontiguous hollow members and through the portions oi.' the indiciaelements juxtaposed to the ends of said contiguous hollow members.

2. A decorative chain comprising a series of open-ended hollow membersarranged side by side, a number of indicia elements each embodying anindicia dening portion extending in juxtaposition to the body of one ofsaid hollow members and apertured portions extending in juxtaposition tothe ends of the member, and a number of link units for interconnectingsaid hollow members and securing the respective indicia elementsthereto, each of said link units extending through a pair of contiguoushollow members and through the apertured portions of the indiciaelements juxtaposed to the ends of said contiguous hollow members.

3. A decorative chain comprising a series of open-ended hollow membersarranged side by side, indicia defining elements associated with saidhollow members having apertured portions extending in juxtaposition tothe ends of the hollow members, and a series of link units eachcomprising a pair of elements disposed adjacent the opposite ends of twocontiguous hollow members in juxtaposition to the apertured portions ofthe respective indicia elements, said elements of the link unitembodying projections oppositely extending through the aperturedportions of the indicia elements into said contiguous hollow members andinterlocked therein.

4. In a chain structure comprising a series of hollow members arrangedby side by side, indicia elements each carried by one of said hollowmembers and having apertured portions extending in juxtaposition to theopposite ends of the member, and a series of links each comprising apair of heads juxtaposed to the apertured portions of the indiciaelements carried by a pair of contiguous hollow members, said headsbeing interconnected by spaced elements oppositely extending through theapertured portions aforesaid and the contiguous hollow members.

5. A chain structure comprising a series of open-ended hollow membersarranged side by side, a plurality of indicia elements each associatedwith one of said hollow members and embodying an indicia definingportion and apertured portions extending in juxtaposition to the ends ofthe member, and a series of link units each comprising a pair ofelements having heads juxtaposed to the apertured portions of theindicia elements associated with a pair of contiguous hollow members,said elements of the link unit embodying projections oppostely extendingthrough the apertured portions of the indicia elements aforesaid intosaid contiguous holchain members of the opposite end of the chain 7. Ina chain structure comprising a series of chain members arranged side byside and interconnected for limited lateral relative displacement, aclasp for interconnecting the ends of the chain comprising a membersecured to one of the ends of the chain formed at its free end with aresilient bifurcation embodying an upwardly extending terminal portionadapted to be inserted between two contiguous chain members of theREFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,147,467 Varga July 20, 19151,499,333 Becton July 1, 1924 1,860,186 Kestenman May 24, 1932

